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“And what’s going to stop her from going to the police station tomorrow morning?”
A slow, frigid smile spreads across my father’s face. “A number of things. Elise is my daughter. She’ll obey me. And if she goes to the police, there will be consequences for you.”
I should have given my father more credit.
I thought I knew how evil he was. I thought I knew rock bottom. This is a new low.
Gabriel slides his hands into his pockets, his green eyes returning to mine.
And I see it.
His resignation. His horror. His fear. Gabriel knew it could be bad. He knew he’d be risking his life if he joined the consortium, and he is, in the starkest possible terms. He couldn’t have known that my father would demandthis.
We’re both being sacrificed to this game. Gabriel already believes he’s broken and damaged and evil.
He’s not.
Even if he does this thing, he won’t be evil. He’ll be doing the only thing that seems reasonable. And I want him. If we have sex tonight, he won’t be forcing me. It won’t change who he is. It won’t change that his life is valuable. He deserves happiness. He’s nothing like my father.
And I have no way to tell him.
13
GABRIEL
I can’t do this.
I can’t.
My mind has fled the scene. It’s barely in my body anymore. If I go back there, I know what I’ll feel. I’ll feel brick up against my face. I’ll feel blood between my fingers. That man’s hand, rough on my neck. I’ll feel everything that happened, and I can’t.
Not if I’m going to survive this.
Brick against my cheek. A hand on the back of my neck.Got you.
Fuck. No.
I could say something. A protest.Hey, this is too far. We all know that. I won’t do it.Saying that will only get me an invitation to a room with plastic sheets and a bullet through my head.
I have a limited amount of time to respond.
Brick. The hand. The blood.
I shove it away, harder this time. Something snaps. Deep in my brain. I’m hovering just outside my body. For one, two, three—
And then I tumble back in.
Take another breath.
I can’t sacrifice myself for this. I can’t dieyet.If I refuse and let them murder me tonight, Elise would still be in danger. Someone else could hurt her.
Elise’s dark eyes are locked on mine, wide and frantic. It looks likeno.It looks likeI don’t want this.But then her eyebrows draw together, a fraction of an inch…
What is she begging me to do?
I make eye contact with Jacob. He looks at me, eyebrows raised, a familiar tilt to his mouth. He doesn’t look shaken, but he is. I’ve known him long enough to know. This expression is a cool veneer over his shock. A small, faraway part of me is relieved as all hell that Jacob is still capable of being shocked by this. The world hasn’t stripped away all the goodness from him yet.
Me? I’m not shocked. I’m seconds from throwing up on the floor, but I’m not shocked. Bettencourt would do this. There’s nothing he won’t do.
